This study aims to develop an identification test for the gifted in English at the elementary school level. Before developing the tool, questionnaires for teachers' needs were collected from 150 primary school teachers. The results were used for setting the direction of developing the identification tool. In addition, a meta-analysis was conducted for the previous studies on gifted education, and an identification test was implemented for the verbally gifted. After these procedures, the first draft of an identification test for the gifted in English was developed, and it was revised and supplemented with the feedback received from five specialists who had extensive experiences in teaching English. From the study, the identification for the gifted consists of two tiers, one set for the subject‟s English ability and one set for the subject‟s latency for learning English. Suggestions were made as follows: First, the implementation of the test may vary according to the goals of the gifted curriculum and the institution. Second, to accomplish successful settlement of the test, it is important that both teachers and students understand goals and steps of the identification test before the implementation.

The main goal of this study is to examine elementary school students’ four-nights-and-five-days experience at an English village in Seoul, focusing on what English learning experiences they had and what kind of changes had been made in their attitudes towards learning English. Pre- and post-surveys were conducted to examine their learning experiences in the village and the changes in their attitudes toward learning English. About 350 students participated in the pre- and post-surveys and additional ten students also participated in an interview with the researcher to draw more detailed information about their experiences in the English village. Descriptive statistics and paired samples t-tests were conducted to answer the main research questions. The results revealed that despite the short term of residence at the English village, the students seemed to have had relatively active engagement in learning both listening and speaking skills, but not as much in learning reading and writing skills. Also, although the village could possibly provide students with rich opportunities to have an active engagement and interaction with peers and English speaking teachers, it seemed that there existed some limitations in having such experiences inside and outside of the classrooms. Finally, students showed some changes in their attitudes or strategies toward learning English after the short term of residence, saying that they wanted to have more diverse engagement with English, such as 'having a conversation with foreigners on the Internet’, ‘keeping a journal in English,’ ‘having a conversation in English with other peers,’ and so on.

This study recommends using children's literature in teacher training programs with the purpose of developing integrated language skills for primary school teachers and teaching methods for their students. First, to accomplish bifold objectives, the study develops three modules: 1) intensive listening through story books, 2) using in class dialogues through role-playing and 3) developing classroom activities. For presenting the examples of the three modules, Junie B., First Grader (at last!), Freckle Juice, and Jake Drake: Teacher's Pet are used. Next, the study presents teachers' perceptions on both using literature for improving their English skills and using literature in their teaching elementary school children. To investigate the possibility of implementing the program, the researcher surveyed 53 teachers participating in the program. The survey results showed teachers' perceptions on children's literature changed in positive ways, and they recognized that children's literature could develop their own English language skills and then would be a good teaching resource for their students. Based on the results, some suggestions were provided for the teachers, educators, and program developers.

This study investigates the problems and possibilities of introducing immersion in public elementary schools in Korea through the opinions of the elementary teachers, students, and parents. The participants of this study were 1,082 elementary school students, 484 elementary school teachers, and 731 parents. The data were collected through questionnaires. Through the analysis of data the followings were revealed. First, there were some misunderstandings and misconceptions about the definition and the meaning of immersion education, which seem to be strongly related to the negative attitudes toward the introduction of English immersion programs in Korea. Second, respondents, however, tended to be positive with the immersion program with about 10% higher agreement with its introduction than disagreement. Third, if they have opportunities to participate in an immersion program, the respondents tended to be a bit hesitative or reserved but mostly agreed to be involved with it as immersion teachers, students, and parents allowing their children, respectively with one to three years of preparation for it in terms of the English competence. Fourth, as for immersion teachers, they preferred co-teaching between Korean and English native teachers to individual teaching, and they also liked Korean immersion teachers more as immersion specialized teachers than as class teachers. Based on these findings several suggestions were made to implement English immersion programs in public elementary schools in Korea, particularly for teachers, schools, local governmental education offices interested in immersion education.

The purpose of this study is to take a close look at team teaching between a Korean elementary English teacher and a native teacher of English and thus to explore ways that team teaching can be performed more effectively. The data consists of teaching journals and an interview. Teaching journals were written by the Korean teacher and the native teacher for one semester while co-teaching. The analysis of data revealed the followings. First, the role relationships between the two teachers changed dynamically as the native teacher had more experiences of teaching. The native teacher was a novice at first, but she became the associate and sometimes team leader in the end of the semester. Second, the Korean teacher's efforts to communicate with the native teacher regarding the contents and methods of teaching helped the native teacher progress in teaching skills and management of class. Third, the Korean teacher felt stress due to too much work and responsibility related to team teaching although she found the experience of team teaching rewarding in terms of her professional development. Finally, it was found that activities and games rather than reading and writing were more appropriate for team teaching. Based on these findings several suggestions were made.